Polar Vortex
by Tigress2475
Summary: America has recently been going through the weather crisis that his news stations have rightly dubbed the 'Polar Vortex'. After trying to deal with the weather for a month, America finally snaps and decides to ask for help. (One-shot) (USUK)


**This is what happens when I get home from freezing out in the cold and get bored. I'm usually not all that fond of the idea that nations are negatively affected by what happens to their actual countries because that opens a can of worms, but I loved the idea of America getting all cold because of the recent weather in America. **

**A lot of news reports are calling it the "Polar Vortex" because of the way the whole storm system formed. Pretty much, the East Coast of America is getting pelted with snow this way and that, and temperatures are super low. I can vouch for this, and I agree with America, it sucks.**

**America is super jittery in this, but come on- the man hates the cold and his country is getting assaulted with it. **

**((Established USUK, Brotherly AmeriCan I suppose, RusAme if you squint))**

* * *

The 'Polar Vortex' that everyone was talking about, totally sucked. America could vouch for this first-hand.

America sat shivering on his couch, the heat was turned up to a steaming 80 degrees in his house and he had a scarf wrapped tightly around his face. He laid curled up in a blanket, and flipped through different channels. He groaned as a news station popped up, declaring all time lows across the country and stating that it wasn't expected to stop anytime soon.

"Why?" America whined. He shut off the television and pulled the blanket further up around him. He couldn't escape the cold. It was as if an ice cube had just up and decided to move into his stomach, and slowly spread outward. He shifted uncomfortably. It didn't help that America hated the winter anyway, and practically hibernated in the cold months when his friends weren't around to get him up and active.

It wasn't fair, he'd tried everything. He'd even taken a trip down to Mexico to try to keep warm. Mexico had just laughed at him though, telling him to man up and get over it. It didn't really matter though, since the warm weather down there hadn't even _helped _warm him up at all, stupid cold. He still felt frozen solid.

America stood up and tottered over to the kitchen. Maybe if he had hot chocolate to warm him up from the inside it would help. He made the beverage quickly, muttering about 'stupid country' and 'stupid nation stuff'. He sipped on his cocoa for a few good minutes before he sighed in aggravation. It wasn't helping. In fact, he was still shaking.

He moaned in self-pity as he set his drink down and flopped down on his couch. He tucked himself under the blanket and shoved a pillow over his head. He laid like this for another few minutes before he began yelling into said pillow.

"I give up!" He shouted, tossing the pillow across the room in anger. He hadn't been able to sit still for more than a few minutes straight for practically the past month. If he stopped moving then he started shivering.

He ran over to the phone and snapped it up from the receiver. "I can't take it!" He yelled, dialing in a number furiously. "How do they _stand _it?" He shifted from foot to foot as the phone rang.

"Hello?" A calm voice answered from the other end of the line.

"Tell me your secrets!" America shouted frantically. "How do you do it? Does it have something to do with your invisibility powers?"

"Woah, Alfred, calm down. What's wrong?" Canada had recoiled from the phone slightly from his end of the line. America's shouting had been quite loud and had hurt his ears.

"I'm so cooold!" America whined, pacing back and forth in his steaming room. "How do you stand these temperatures! It's like, a volcano in my home and I'm still shivering!"

Canada raised an eyebrow, petting his polar bear Kumo-something absently on the head. As it was, Canada was in the middle of doing paperwork, so America's call hadn't interrupted much. He leaned back in his office chair and thought. "You mean that whole 'Polar-'" He began.

"Don't even say it!" America cried. "I'm banning that phrase now. I can do that right? I'm America after all."

"No. Not really. Even if you could somehow convince your boss to do that the rest of the world wouldn't listen." Canada sighed. "Look would you just-"

"But Mattie!" America whined, pacing around before laying down on the couch again. "I'm just so c-cold." He punched at the air as his teeth started chattering.

"Alfred! Would you just listen to me for once?" Canada snapped. Really, America was calling him for help and even then he couldn't get a word in edgewise. Typical.

"What? I'm sorry Mattie. Could you like, give me a tip or something?" He had somehow ended up hanging upside-down off the couch, being even more restless than usual.

"Well... when it gets really cold at my place I bundle up-"

"Done." America began sliding off the couch.

"-and I turn up the heat-"

"Seriously step it up, I did that." His head hit the floor.

"-_and_ I get something warm to drink-"

"I did that!" The rest of his body landed on the floor and he sighed.

"Alfred shut up!" Canada said, dropping his head to his hands. "There's nothing you can really do anyway! I'm just used to it is all. You're just going to have to push through it. It'll end when Spring comes."

"You're just as bad as Mexico." America whined. "You have no idea! My country is insane right now." He jumped to his feet and paced around.

"If _that _is insane, I'd like to see you in my shoes for a few days. I'm cold too right now, even more so than usual." Canada tapped his fingers on his mahogany desk. "How cold is it there even?"

"It's like in the negatives dude!" America wailed.

Canada wrinkled his brow. "Only in the negatives? How far? That's just below freezing, if you think-"

"In Fahrenheit dude. Remember that little thing!" America snapped, feeling slightly insulted.

"Oh." Canada said. There was a long pause before, "You know you really should think about changing-"

"Noo." America cut in. "Freedom! Plus Belize thinks it's rad too."

Canada rolled his eyes. "Look, I have work to do Alfred. I hope things turn out okay."

"Wait- Mattie don't you dare-!" But it was too late, Canada had hung up. America hung his head. Man up? What the heck, his insides were _freezing_ for goodness sake.

He ran a hand through his hair and grimaced at the sweat he felt on his brow. His house really was a sauna right now, and his body was reacting accordingly. Too bad the whole nation-thing was totally screwing him over on that one because he still wasn't warm.

America decided that maybe he needed to take a shower, and went off to do just that. He turned the heat on the faucet up and watched as steam filled the room.

* * *

After his shower, America felt cleaner, but still not any warmer. At least he wasn't either sweating or shivering though. He stared at the phone lying on the arm of the couch where he had left it and glared.

He didn't like his next idea, but he _had _had a backup plan if Canada failed him. He walked slowly up to the phone and picked it up. He dialed the number cautiously, a button a second, before lifting the phone to his ear and listening to the ring.

"Da?" The answer finally came, and America was tempted to hang up right then. He couldn't believe he was stooping this low, but he had been shivering practically non-stop for the better part of a month now, and he was _cold._

"Russia." Alfred replied blandly.

"Oh, America." The Russian replied cheerfully. "What can I do for you? Are you finally surrendering?"

"Surrend- Russia we aren't even at war! Are we?" America darted to check his cell-phone. No missed calls or texts.

"Hmm. I suppose not. We never really did settle who won that Cold War though." Russia replied. He was walking down the streets is Moscow, scarf tucked neatly around his neck and trench coat hanging down to his thighs.

"Please don't say cold." America shivered. "And we totally did. I won."

"I would not be so sure about that." Russia said, tone darkening slightly, all the while his smile stayed firmly in place.

"Whatever dude." America replied. "I didn't call to bicker about old times."

"Da? And then why did you call?" Russia asked, genuinely intrigued.

"How do you deal with that commie weather of yours?" America asked. At this point Alfred had started full-on shaking again. He pulled a blanket around him and turned it until he was firmly wrapped in it.

"What do you mean? Thunderstorm? Blizzard?" Russia asked, tilting his head. It was kind of hard to talk to America when he used all of one adjective to describe anything in his country. He really was hung up on the whole 'communist' thing wasn't he?

"Blizzard! Cold! Snow! Whatever." America snapped. "How the heck do you not freeze?"

Russia thought this over for a minute before answering slowly. "I don't."

"What?" America asked, confused.

"I don't. I freeze. It's okay though, I like the cold." The Russian replied brightly. "General Winter has helped me many times in the past, why would I not want him?"

"Because the cold sucks?" America muttered.

"Are you cold?" Russia asked.

"No duh. Why else would I call you." The American shot back angrily. He knew that this had all been a waste of time. The commie was a freak of nature anyway, no wonder the cold didn't bother him.

"If you want I can show you how to keep warm." Russia said chipperly. "You can come over and we'll keep warm."

America, despite usually being unable to read the atmosphere, could definitely sense danger. "Uh, no thanks Russia. I'm cool."

"Yes, more than cool I'd say. More like cold." Russia's smiled widened at the muffled crash and 'eff you commie' from the other side of the line before it cut. He sighed happily before continuing down the busy street. It was always so fun to mess with America. He wondered briefly when he'd finally be able to crush the stupid pig under his boot, before smiling happily.

America was at a loss now. He held his arms tightly around himself, trembling. _Not fair- _was all he could think as he hobbled off to his bedroom. The sky was dark outside now, and America only hoped he could get some sleep, even with the uncomfortable cold inside of him.

* * *

America spent the next day the same as many of the previous ones. He paced, fidgeted, shivered and whined at the air. He had gotten practically no sleep the previous night, waking up every few hours, and was exhausted. It was about noon when he broke. He was so pathetic like this, but he couldn't stand it anymore. He stomped over to the phone and yanked it up viciously.

He dialed a number and waited impatiently as the phone rang, stomping a foot.

"Yes?" A rather English voice answered.

"England!" America yelled. "Come over okay?" He then hit the end call button and fumed for a few seconds.

On the other end, England pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it in confusion. What had that been about? He glanced down at the work on his desk and tapped a finger. If he did the rest of his work quickly he might be able to be in America by nine. He tilted his head considering his options. He gave a resigned sigh, it had better be worth it and not something stupid.

* * *

England had tried to call him back twice, but America had refused to answer. It was bad enough that he was a wreck, but now he couldn't take it back. He really didn't want England to see him like this, but he couldn't stand being alone and shivering anymore. Maybe England would even be sympathetic, unlike Canada.

It was nearing eight when Alfred was beginning to lose hope. It only took seven hours for England to fly over usually, he'd probably thought America was being stupid and had decided not to come. It was America's own fault for not explaining what was going on, but it would have been far too embarrassing. America sighed as he curled up burrito-style in a blanket on his couch and fell asleep.

This was how England found him when he opened the door.

"Alfred! Why is it so hot in here?" He asked, fanning at his face.

America jolted and fell off the couch, startled awake. He looked up to see an upside-down Englishman. (Well from his point of view anyway.)

"You came!" He exclaimed as another bout of shivers racked his body.

England's glare immediately turned into a look of concern. "What's wrong?" He asked, bending over the tangled up American.

"I'm cold." America murmured quietly, shifting a bit. "I-" He bit his lip and averted his eyes.

"What?" England asked, putting his hands on his hips. If he had booked a seven hour flight on such short notice because America had been _cold..._

"I didn't want to be alone." America finished, slowly climbing to his feet. "I feel so cold inside. On the East Coast temperatures are down in the negatives."

England raised an eyebrow. "In Fahrenheit?" He asked.

America smiled, glad England had remembered. "Yeah."

England rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "You worried me, I thought something was wrong."

"Sorry." America said with a sheepish smile. "So- uh. Now that you're here..." He held out his arms.

England just stared at the American for a moment. "Are you saying you called me over an ocean on such sort notice to cuddle because you were cold? Are we perfectly clear here?"

America looked away. "Uhm... yes? No? What's the right answer here? Arthur is always right?"

England smirked. "Sure. Either would have worked but I like that last one." America grinned widely and threw his arms around the slightly smaller man. England stumbled as the American practically dragged him to the floor.

"Are you seriously shaking that bad?" He asked as he found himself wrapped up in a blanket with America on the ground.

"Mmn." America answered noncommittally as his shivering slowly died down.

England sighed, giving up and leaning into America's embrace, resting his head on the younger nation's shoulder. "Is this helping?"

America thought about this for a second. After a moment's pause England raised his head and looked up at him. "Nope." He replied at last.

England gaped at him for a second before growing pink and trying to work his way out of America's grip. "Well I guess I'll just leave then." He snapped.

"No!" America cried, pulling England almost painfully tight against him. "I'm still just as cold, but I've stopped shivering see? Don't leave."

England huffed and stopped struggling. "I see." He said and stilled again. "But still-" He paused as he realized the younger nation had dozed off, head resting on his shoulder. "Hmm."

"Ow!" America suddenly cried, jolting. England started as the other nation pulled away and began rubbing his side.

"What was that?" England asked, startled.

"Uh- California's going through a drought. There's been a lot of bushfires lately." America admitted embarrassingly. His cheeks pinkened and he looked away from the incredulous look on England's face. Suddenly, the man burst out laughing.

"What?" America asked defensively.

"Nothing." England gasped between breathes as he slowly stopped laughing. "You're just kind of hopeless is all." He chuckled at the look America gave him.

"But- But I'm not! I'm just going through a bad spell is all." He whined.

"I know." England said, curling up next to America on the floor again. "We all have them, it's okay."

"Yeah." America muttered, wrapping his arm around England. "I... just..." He trailed off as his head slowly drifted down to England's shoulder again. His voice stopped as he dozed off again against the older nation.

"What a git." England sighed to himself. "But I suppose I am too since I'm the one who flew seven hours over here to see him."

It suddenly struck England that the jet lag was really catching up to him as his eyelids fluttered. He had gotten caught up with America's antics and forgotten that he should have been asleep hours ago. He smiled as he leaned against America and rectified that, quickly falling asleep. The sudden dead weight against his side woke America briefly. He took a look at England, wrapped his arms more tightly around him, and slid them into a lying position on the floor before falling asleep again- holding England snugly to his chest.

Maybe this 'Polar Vortex' wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**Oh yeah, not only is the East Coast freezing, California is (on fire) going through a drought. Yay America.**

**You know, I really do wonder why America still used Fahrenheit. It really makes no sense (this coming from an American). I can perfectly imagine someone questioning him about it and him simply answering with 'Freedom!' as seen above. Belize must be a homie too. XD Like really... why do we still use feet and pounds too? I feel kind of embarrassed for my country, the rest of the world must be sighing.  
**

**Hope you liked it! Have a good day, and remember to stay warm wherever you are. -Dodges America's thrown projectile- Haha... Yeah I'm going to turn up the heat now. Bye-bye, Dawn-**


End file.
